3 NY Mets minor league Statcast standouts

2) Drew Gilbert

Drew Gilbert hasn’t been able to fully rebound to his 2023 levels of production. He is hitting .235/.349/.364 with a .336 wOBA and 95 wRC+ in 195 plate appearances between St. Lucie and Syracuse. He has only struck out 15.4% of the time with a strong 13.3% walk rate but has only hit four home runs with a .130 isolated slugging percentage.

But Gilbert does have some decent Statcast metrics. For one, he only has a whiff rate of 16.7%. That is the 15th lowest among minor leaguers who are tracked by Statcast this season with at least 150 plate appearances. However, he is displaying more raw power than any other minor leaguer who swings and misses that infrequently.

There are only 20 batters with a whiff% of 18% or lower in 150+ plate appearances. Gilbert’s 90.2 MPH exit velocity and 8.9% barrel rate both rank second among those 20 batters. San Diego Padres’ Luis Campusano ranks above Gilbert in both metrics. The next closest is Cole Young, who has an 89.6 MPH exit velo, an 8.5% barrel rate, and is a top 50 prospect in baseball.

Gilbert may not be doing outstanding this season, but at least he’s doing the things you want to see a player doing right. He’s showing off some solid raw power and rarely swings and misses. The outfielder also seems to be showing good pitch recognition, given that he is walking at an excellent rate so far this year.